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I recently went to Capitol Hill to talk about the importance of the Special Diabetes Program.

Fortunately, my Florida delegation — including U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw and Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio — support renewal of this program because of what it means to my family and our nation.

Both of my kids, who have now grown to be young adults, have Type 1 diabetes.

This means they have to manage their blood sugar by pricking their fingers and injecting insulin three to eight times a day.

Type 1 diabetes is an all-day job that never stops.

It means checking blood sugars regularly to prevent dangerous lows even in the middle of the night.

They could experience a seizure, go into a coma or risk serious complications like blindness, kidney disease or heart problems.

The Special Diabetes Program is credited with developing the artificial pancreas technology to automatically manage blood sugar so that my kids and others won’t have to worry.

The program is addressing complications, which also helps people with Type 2 diabetes.

Therapy treats vision loss, and determining the right blood sugar can help cut kidney disease in half.

These developments give hope to 1.5 million Floridians with diabetes for a cure in the future, and are important to our nation’s finances.

Florida’s universities and small businesses have also received $420 million from the Special Diabetes Program to carry out innovative diabetes research and long term studies like TEDDY looking at markers for Type 1 diabetes as well as the Natural History Study that looks at the relatives of those with Type 1 diabetes for markers to help determine the possible onset of the disease.

Two weeks after I returned from Washington, the Special Diabetes Program was renewed by Congress.

I am grateful that Florida’s congressional delegation is standing up for people with diabetes!

And we wonder why our debt soars to record levels. You and I are regulated by Florida state statues or laws if violated we can go to jail. Congress is regulated by such laws set forth by the enumerations of the Constitution, and nowhere does it authorize such spending.

However, due to a worthy cause, the states may provide such funding for it's citizens. Why is this means better? For one it's more efficient than the federal government, but it also insures Florida money goes to Florida residence.

Sure, members of Congress could contribute one week of THEIR money to a worthy cause, but has no legal authority to take my tax money and fund those in California or other wealth redistribution programs.

If we really want to begin reducing our debt, we must enforce the Constitution and have states deal with their own social programs and keep our tax money for fellow Floridians.